Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 63: The Dragon's Haven

As Daniel is investigating Reignleif's chamber in the old dragon's keep, Ryuogriar holds the magic crystal panel that Xyreko made for them, which is showing what Daniel's helmet sees. At the moment, there's not a lot to see because of the hazy air created by the frost spell Reignleif placed to keep her room icy-cold. Reignleif herself is written next to Ryuogriar where she can see the crystal panel as well, hugging her first egg as she scrolls on Daniel's phone, which contains books that he himself. They are works of fiction, but Reignleif reads them every chance she gets.

Geirahoel is laying a little further away under the blankets, cuddling with both of her eggs as she hugs one of the pillows as well as a plush doll modeled after a somewhat strange-looking bear. She hums in soft irritation. “It's not fair! I want to talk to him, too…”

“Oh?” asks Ryuogriar teasingly. “What would you say to our beloved Mukori, dearest Geira?”

Geirahoel blushes, hiding her face under the blankets.

The senior of the three dragons chuckled, adding softly, “I am a little disappointed as well, Reina, that you will keep it to yourself. I can't detect his helmet. I can reach any of the others, but…”

Reina replied softly, “It's not an active magic connection like telepathy. You can't detect it. You have to be able to see it and use a targeted spell. Afterwards, you will be able to visualize the connection again.”

After removing the barrier and the spell casters dissipate the haze, Daniel approaches Reignleif's draschol'lak'barochan. He studied it for a moment, and then pulled out his water bottle, taking a drink. He begins coughing, and the three dragons both tense and crowd around the panel. “Mukori!” cry all three together. 

Reignleif quickly says, “He can't hear me! He took his helmet off!”

“Should we go!?” asks Geirahoel quickly and passionately. “Did something attack him!?”

After only a brief moment of his helmet shaking around and Daniel coughing, he says calmly, though his voice sounds rough, “I’m fine. Just a little went down the wrong pipe.”

“Wh-What is that?” asks Wenlianna, directed at Daniel.

Daniel catches his breath for a moment, coughing one last time before he can answer more clearly. “Milk. Someone wanted to prove her wifeliness.”

Reignleif and Ryuogriar flinch. They glance at each other, and then look at Geirahoel, who is cupping her cheeks with a look of embarrassment as her face fills brightly with color. She mouths inaudibly, unable to form words of defense, though her voice comes out in small squeaks and gasps.

They look at the panel again when Daniel says to Hekate, “Hekate? You’re growling.”

“She beat me again! I’m fighting her when we get home!” cries the little feldrok empress.

“It wasn’t Ryuo,” replies Daniel without a single hint of doubt.

“Wh-Wha-? How do you know?”

“Just a hunch.” Finally, his helmet goes back onto his head and stabilizes, looking at Reignleif’s draschol’lak’barochan. It vanishes into Daniel’s medium sized magic bag.

And then, he surprises all three dragons. “Mukori, I have a question.”

Reignleif speaks, though she’s projecting her voice to Daniel telepathically, “Y-Yes, Mukori?”

“Where is your haven?”

All three dragons flinch. They look at each other. Geirahoel asks, “Wh-What do we say?” She is currently bundled in Daniel’s blanket with her eggs nestled by his pillows, and the plushie doll she is hugging is something Daniel made in anticipation of his first child, with more that he’s working on. Reignleif, in addition to reading his stories on his phone, is also wearing one of his shirts instead of her normal dress. Ryuogriar already put some of her hair and scales in strategic places around the room to antagonize Hekate, and she’s covered only by one of his sheets, otherwise nude.

“Are you referring to me, Mukori, or Ryuo or Geira?” asks Reignleif, stalling for time.

Ryuogriar nods with an approving smile.

“All three of you are using the same one, are you not?”

They flinch, and Geirahoel asks at a whisper, “How does he know that? I thought Xyreko doesn’t monitor private quarters.”

Reignleif murmurs without projecting her voice, “Maybe she lied?”

“No. Mukori knows we can often be found together, including basking on the roof or relaxing on the point overlooking the lake. He knows we’re together, and he’s assuming we’re in our haven because we’re worried about him.”

The younger two nod in agreement.

“W-Will he be mad at us if we tell him the truth?” asks Geirahoel.

“I doubt it,” replies Ryuogriar. “But, he’ll undoubtedly tease us. And, Hekate might forbid us from continuing.”

Having been unanswered for a long moment, Daniel asks, “Can I ask why you chose my room?”

They all gasp, and Geirahoel cries out with rosy cheeks, “How does he do that!?”

“Xyreko must be seeing us…” murmurs Reignleif.

“Everything okay, Mukori?” asks Daniel’s voice, a little worried. “I’m not angry. But, it’s gotten pretty obvious at this point. I’m just curious why. Isn’t a haven where you get away from things that might cause you problems?”

The three dragons look at each other once more, and they all smile tenderly. Reignleif replies softly and tenderly, carrying the tone through her voice projection, “Mukori, we chose your room as our haven because it’s yours. You make us all feel safe and happy. Wasn’t that obvious?”

Daniel is quiet for a moment, and they can see that he’s studying the things around him, working while he thinks. He does pause a little, but he does keep on task.

“I try not to be too presumptuous. Do I have Geira-Mukori to thank for my drink?”

“Y-Yes…” replies Reignleif sheepishly. “B-But, I’d happily do the same, Mukori. A-As soon as I can.”

Daniel chuckles. “Thanks, ladies. Everything’s going smoothly here so far. We’ll do a second check on everything in a controlled area, including all of us, before we call it safe.”

“Thank you, Mukori.”

“T-Tell him,” starts Geirahoel before pausing. She blushes, fidgeting with the plush doll. “T-Tell him I also made a lunch for him…”

Reignleif and Ryuogriar both sigh at her with looks of frustration. Ryuogriar retorts coolly, “You’re a sneaky one, dearest Geirahoel.”

Reignleif nods sternly in agreement. “Mm-hm! You cheated…”

“Ch-Cheated!? I… I thought… I just wanted to make him happy.”

“And that’s why you’re cheating!” whines Reignleif. She pouts softly, “Daniel never expresses what he likes.”

This time, Ryuogriar nods in agreement. “Agreed. His wants and needs should be imperial declarations, not secrets. Even less so from his empresses.”

Reignleif grumbles, “Mukori, Geirahoel says she made a lunch for you, but you can throw it away.”

“HEY!” cries Geirahoel. She wrestles Reignleif to try to force her to submit. “That’s not what I said! Tell him he has to eat every bite! A-And he has to enjoy it, or I’ll never forgive him!”

Daniel finds the small box in his magic bag, and he inspects the contents. It’s full of several kinds of cookies.

“Geira… Darling… What is this?” asks Daniel a little skeptically.

She whines, “It’s lunch! Tell him it’s his lunch!”

Reignleif sighs, “She says it’s your lunch, Daniel.”

The other women with him inspect the contents as well, since they’ve collected most of the important things from Reignleif’s old quarters. “It’s nothing but cookies,” replies Daniel with amusement in his voice. Hekate bounds over, exclaiming, “Cookies!?”

“Wh-What’s wrong with cookies?” asks Geirahoel.

The blue dragon grumbles, “I see the error of my ways. I should have taught you…”

“Obviously! Ask him what’s wrong with cookies! I worked really hard on them!” She blushes as they watch Daniel eat one, and he hums in approval. “They are good, though. Extremely sweet.”

Geirahoel squeals giddily, and the other two watch her in amusement, even if they know their competition is heating up. 

Before Reignleif can relay the question, though, Daniel explains, “Geira-Mukori, I genuinely appreciate the gesture, and the cookies are really good. But, they aren’t a lunch. They’re a snack.”

“Bu-But! He said he likes sweet things! Th-That’s why he likes…” She blushes, gesturing at her chest.

“I swear, when mine begins, I will never hand him over to you again,” grumbles Ryuogriar. Geirahoel gasps, and Reignleif relays the objection to Daniel.

“I do like sweet things. A lot. But, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Plus, between the milk and these cookies, I’m on the fast track to [diabetes].”

Daniel shares the cookies with the others, and they all hum in delight. “L-Lady Geirahoel made these?” asks Gwenesphia in surprise. She grumbles softly, “I’m falling further and further behind…”

The human otherworlder sighs. “It’s not a competition. What would the prize even be? Me?”

Geirahoel squirms and rolls around in Daniel’s bedding in frustration. “How was I supposed to know!? He said he likes sweet things! Gaaah!”

Reignleif and Ryuogriar watch her silently for a moment. Ryuogriar leans over and pets her head gently, and the young orange dragon pouts from under Daniel’s blankets.

Hekate says boisterously, “Geira! If you ever want to give up being one of Daniel’s mistresses, I will happily keep you on as Court Baker. These are amazing!” She shoves another cookie into her mouth, humming happily as she eats them, and Daniel has another one as well.

“Goes pretty well with the milk,” adds Daniel warmly. “Maybe we will call this lunch.” The others chuckle, and they express thanks through the magic connection.

Geirahoel pounces on Reignleif, startling her. “Tell him he can’t share the milk! I-It’s… embarrassing.”

“Then why did you do it?” teases Ryuogriar.

The youngest of the three dragons blushes furiously even more, squirming. “It’s… It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Ryuogriar sighs gently, patting her junior’s head. “I hate to admit it, but it was a very good idea, and I envy you so much. Our human Mukori has standards for what he wants. We must learn them and master them.”

Geirahoel and Reignleif nod in agreement. 

***

As Daniel and company collect Reignleif’s belongings from her personal chamber in the dragon’s keep, Xyreko approaches, inspecting the book Daniel is holding. It’s an extremely old book, which ironically, the cold probably helped preserve it a fair bit. There are a few black and white pictures that are rather detailed and well done, but he obviously can’t read any of the text. It looks to be an almost cursive form of a language of Zenkon, meaning that it’s twice as difficult for him to read.

“Daniel, have you taken notice yet?”

Daniel doesn’t look, but he asks softly to confirm they’re aware of the same thing, “One of the villagers tried to get into the room?”

She nods, taking the book when he offers it to her, and she pages through it. “I believe not all of our new villagers are as loyal as we’d like. He seemed quite frustrated that my barrier was preventing his entry.”

“That’s natural. As far as the leader is concerned, I haven’t passed all of his tests yet. Signal Vaergraes over and pretend you can’t read the book.”

Xyreko cocks her head, but she nods. “Very well.” She calls out, “Lady Vaergraes, His Grace and I are curious about this book.”

Vaergraes approaches, and Hekate bounds over as well. The young feldrok girl snatches the book first, looking through it. She cocks her head in frustration as well. “These look like scribbles.”

Vaergraes, looking over her shoulder, inspects the page Hekate is open to. Hekate sounds out a couple of words, indicating that she’s able to read some of it, but that makes it likely it’s cursive. He’s not sure how it works, but feldroks and dragons supposedly can inherently understand and read any language, even if they can’t speak it. But, a language made even more difficult to read because of ‘efficient’ handwriting, known by the young as the accursed cursive, isn’t quite the same as its true written self.

Vaergraes replies, “This looks like an old chronicle of an explorer. The language is a dead Gruu’yenn dialect.”

“Gruu’yenn?” asks Hekate.

Xyreko answers, “Ancient demon-kin said to have arrived from another continent. I’ve seen feldrok research information that they may be the ancestors of modern goblins.”

“Really?” asks Daniel.

Vaergraes confirms, “Indeed. In fact, I believe I’ve heard Shek and Skloe speaking in the modern dialect that descended from ancient Gruu’yenn.”

Kera'tai explains, “If you recall Master, goblins speak various languages depending on their region. They… tend to speak it poorly regardless, but it’s their own language.”

Daniel nods. “Makes enough sense. As much as I love them, I doubt Shek and Skloe have any great insights into the Gruu’yenn. More importantly, we actually had a real question, Vaergraes.” She cocks her head, and then looks at Xyreko, who nods subtly. She blushes a little when she realizes there was no way Xyreko didn’t know all of that already.

“I see. What would you like to know?”

Daniel speaks softly, “When you were… at your last job, did you use infiltrators to keep tabs on… uh… the three goofball Empresses?”

Hekate blurts out a “Ha!”, but she doesn’t question what they’re talking about yet. Vaergraes is confused at first, while Daniel hears Reignleif’s voice, “M-Mukori!? You aren’t referring to us, are you?”

“No, of course not, my beloved Mukori. It was just a figure of speech.”

Vaergraes answers Daniel, “I did. And, I was not the only one. I wouldn’t necessarily call them spies, but it was the primary way I could communicate with the d-... with the denizens of a certain place.”

Daniel nods. “Thanks for that. One of our new companions is curious about this room. More curious than I’d like.”

“They’re not mine,” replies the former queen nervously.

“I know that. I just wanted to confirm that someone may be keeping tabs on us, now.”

She gasps. “D-Do… Do you think they know who we are?”

“Unlikely, or they would retreat,” retorts Xyreko. “After the display outside, and the combined forces in here, they should realize we’re best left alone.”

Hekate growls, “You and Daniel said the same thing about the siege.”

Xyreko is silent, and Wenlianna chuckles nervously. She knows her own family’s military forces were part of that, though they didn’t know or understand the situation.

“You have a point,” replies Daniel. “Xyreko, keep an eye on their behavior. If more than one person is acting strange, be ready to defend.”

“Always, your Grace.”

Daniel then heads towards the exit once everyone has regrouped. “Well, one more bedroom to go before I can reclaim my own. Anything you’re embarrassed about in yours, Geira-Mukori?”

There’s a pause, and a pillow appears in Xyreko’s hands, having been teleported to her. She says after she studies it for a moment, “Forgive me, your Grace. A request from Empress Geirahoel.” She throws the pillow at Daniel, and he and the others chuckle. 

“I’m gonna get you back for that, Geira,” warns Daniel playfully. Daniel stores the pillow in his magic bag, leading back out into the main corridor where the villagers are waiting. He nods politely at the leader, who bows, repeating the phrase, “[My lord.]”

“Thank you. Please show us to Lady Orange’s room next.” Vaergraes translates, and the leader nods, escorting them. Daniel does his best to ignore the other villagers, as he doesn’t want them to know that he’s onto them. Xyreko’s stealth golems are able to observe them without being noticed, and she can watch for their reactions. As they’re passing a room that has been cleared out already before they arrived, Daniel casually looks inside. He thinks nothing of it, since it’s possible that the other dragons could have returned briefly to reclaim their own belongings, or it could have been the private chambers of one of the dragons that fell in battle with either the Devourer, or one of the two that were successfully slain by human-kin over the course of history. The doorway is huge, and they’re walking past it for a long time.

It’s also a large area to scan.

“Daniel! Look out!” Hekate pounces towards Daniel, shoving him forward. His bones and organs hurt from the force with which she launches him forward, almost like a car wreck, and he tumbles across the ground as a thunderous boom rumbles the whole tunnel, shaking rocks and dust loose.

When he finally comes to rest, everything hurts, but Daniel manages to lift his head and torso to look, fighting through the pain.

Somehow, he didn’t see it. 

Where he was just standing is a colossus of metal, rivaling the Red Lord in size; the largest of any of the dragons he encountered. This metallic-looking dragon is fully armored, and it slammed its claw down on the ground.

“Hekate!” shouts Daniel.

The armored dragon looks at Daniel, focusing its gaze on him. He instantly pulls his rifle forward from his back, taking aim.

The dragon begins speaking, but it’s clearly in the draconic language, and a second voice, seemingly from the dragon, speaks in the eastern language. “You think you can out-chant me, pathetic insect…”

Daniel aims for one of the eye holes of the dragon’s helmet, firing. 

BOOOOM!

The god of thunder shouts, and everyone, including Daniel and the armored dragon, are flinched by the otherworldly volume of his oversized rifle. The dragon’s magic circles, which had appeared with his chants, suddenly vanish as the dragon roars.

A small magic explosion erupts from under his foreclaw, and Hekate is spit out of the blast as he is flinched back again.

During the brief moment of an opening, Treia and Gwenesphia are evacuating Aoloan and the villagers past the dragon, sprinting past Daniel and Hekate as Daniel cycles the bolt of his rifle, loading the second round in.

The dragon shakes its head, finally clearing the disorientation as Hekate tries to rise to her feet. “D-Daniel…” she groans.

Daniel fires again, and she flops onto the ground, clutching her cracked helmet. 

Please forgive me, Hekate, thinks Daniel. He’ll definitely make it up to her, but he has to protect himself and everyone else as much as he can.

The golems appear in force, firing their machine guns relentlessly. Metal sparks fly from ricochets on the armor and Daniel’s second shot was unable to penetrate the armor itself. He’s also not seeing blood, so it’s possible he didn’t even penetrate the dragon’s skull with his first shot.

Lightning flashes, and a lightning bolt hits the dragon, creating an impressive display of light and electrical arcs, as well as a comparable clap of thunder, but Daniel knows why it’s ineffective; the armor. Ignoring that it’s probably resistant to magic, the metal armor would create a path of low resistance to ground.

A spear of rock jets out of the ground, pinning the dragon to the wall briefly, but again, its armor is unscathed, and it’s able to buck free of the rock spire. 

Vaergraes and Kera'tai, using magic on the run, follow Treia and the others, escorting Wenlianna and a couple of stragglers. Several golems jog into position, tossing smoke grenades to cover their retreat as they fire at the dragon, ensuring its attention would be on them instead of the three retreating.

“Kera'tai!” shouts Vaergraes as the dragon takes a deep breath. They both whirl, now between the dragon and everyone else. They both cast a barrier, combining their magic together, and a small opening opens in the helmet, allowing the dragon to breathe a lance of fire that instantly reminds Daniel of what he has witnessed Reignleif and Ryuogriar do; a gigantic laser that spits off licks of fire as it tears the very air apart with heat. Vaergraes and Kera'tai channel their magical power as strongly as they can, and the number of rifle shots drops as golems are incinerated.

The dragon’s concentrated fire lance breath finally subsides, and Vaergraes and Kera'tai both slump as they drop the barrier. Kera'tai sinks to her knees. The dragon shakes his head, seemingly catching his breath.

“Xyreko, don’t transfer anyone in.”

“Daniel…?” replies the golem’s voice in his helmet. 

“Evacuate who you can first.” Daniel slings his rifle, pulling a flashbang from his normal gear bag. He pulls the pin and throws it, shouting, “Flash out!” He repeats several times, each flashing blast ensuring the Dragon is disoriented when it sees at least one of them. It roars and rears back, clutching its helmet.

Daniel moves quickly, pulling his magic bag up so he can find his railgun, withdrawing it quickly and priming the final stage safety. He can’t hear the capacitors whining softly as they charge, as his ears are ringing even though his helmet protected him. 

Please work, please work, please work…

Daniel aims at the dragon’s chest, waiting for it to steady for a moment. Given the relatively small distance, the travel time will be inconsequential, but he can’t take any chances.

Daniel pulls the trigger right as his balance shifts from the dragon stomping, and the bullet rips by, missing the dragon. He curses under his breath, pulling the bolt-like mechanism back to evacuate the excess heat, and he turns the railgun to access the breach, quickly loading in the next slug. The dragon bellows and shakes its head clear once more, and Vaergraes calls out, “D-Daniel! We must retreat!”

“Go! I’ll cover the retreat!”

Xyreko appears in front of him, and he reacts quickly. Just as she grabs his shoulder, he pulls Nemaisol out, interrupting her spell. Again, the sword seems like it’s resisting him a little, but it also protects him from being evacuated. “Xyreko, everyone else is priority.”

“Daniel!?”

“Go!” He nods his head towards Vaergraes, who is helping Kera'tai walk to Hekate, who has her own rifle as she wipes blood from her chin. 

“Hekate, Vae, Kera! Use ice and lock it in place! Hurry!”

They look at Daniel, and then at the dragon. Vaergraes and Hekate nod, and Hekate aims her ice rifle, firing it instantly. She winds the mechanism that resets the crystals, aiming and firing again. She hits the dragon with ice blasts that begin to create jagged crystal bursts of ice that freeze the dragon’s foot to the ground.

Vaergraes summons a great deal of ice magic with magic circles hovering around her, and she blasts the dragon with a jet of ice as it snarls, trying to exhale a more standard fire breath in counter. Kera'tai uses the last of her magic to cast a longer, targeted spell that creates ice at the dragon’s other foot, anchoring its feet. As it tries to step, it loses its balance, falling forward.

“Move!” shouts Daniel. They’re right in the path of the dragon’s fall.

However, Hekate and Kera'tai are too weakened to move away. Vaergraes braces to create a barrier, but Xyreko appears next to them, retreating in a teleport at the last second as the dragon slams the ground, and Daniel has safely avoided being crushed himself, though he does stumble as the massive head slams the ground next to him. 

Now, he has a moment of the dragon at his complete mercy with its head directly in his line of sight. Daniel sits up in a kneel with Nemaisol on the ground close to him. In a last ditch effort to kill him, the Dragon pivots its head and exhales a different element; pure black fog. Daniel flinches, especially when he sees the fog corrode the dragon’s armor quickly.

Thankfully, Nemaisol, repelling all magic, creates a small safe zone behind itself, and Daniel crouches instinctively, realizing that if he had stood up, he would be dead now. Part of his helmet is dissolving, and he quickly yanks it off, tossing it aside.

It lands in the black fog as he stays low. Within seconds, his helmet is nothing but dust.

His sharmelkolle helmet, which is supposedly indestructible, is nothing but dust in seconds.

Daniel takes a breath, saying softly, “Thank you, Nemaisol. You’ve saved me again.”

The breath dissipates, and lingering effects roll around the hallway, still keeping Daniel trapped.

Fortunately, he now has a direct shot at the dragon’s head as it looks at him in shock, obviously surprised and a little horrified to see him still alive. It also seems like the dragon’s skin is aging before Daniel’s eyes, drying out and wrinkling. Either the dark breath that the dragon just used afflicted the dragon, or it used almost all of the dragon’s magic.

Given that it dissolved the dragon’s helmet, which Daniel suspects is sharmelkolle or mithril, as well as Daniel’s helmet and the stone wall behind him, Daniel would wager a lot on the gamble that the spell amplifying the dark breath to be able to dissolve sharmelkolle -and presumably, the ‘most powerful sorcerer in the world’- used virtually all of the magical power that a particularly strong dragon possessed.

And now, Daniel is ready to unleash his ‘spell’, his railgun already aimed at the dragon’s unarmored head.

“A… human?” asks the dragon.

Daniel hesitates. It’s dangerous, since he’s relatively defenseless without his magical companions, and now he can’t speak to Xyreko. But, he retorts, “You’re not one of Morthybargaron’s allies, are you?”

The dragon cocks its head a little.

Daniel suspects he’s still alive because the dragon is completely out of magic, as it’s panting and still hasn’t broken free of the ice.

“Are… you here to kill him, too?” asks the dragon.

“Too?”

The dragon nods, which is a relatively big motion for Daniel, as close as they are, but it’s a cautious nod for a giant being. “Morthybargaron is a cruel ikthylobeev. He is an enemy of humans as well. That you have achieved such strength… Are you the one they call the Harbinger of Calamity?”

Daniel nods once, and the dragon seems to slump on the ground, giving out what strength he has left. “I see… I heard of the death of Mulmonbargarnaed at the hands of a single sorcerer, and I knew it was my chance.”

“Mulmon… Was that big red’s little brother?”

The dragon nods once more. “Indeed. That I would find my fate determined by the dragonslayer himself… Go ahead, human. I have been defeated.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I have no strength left. I can barely move. Once I suspected you were the Harbinger, I tried to unleash all I had to defeat you, and I still lost.” The dragon scoffs, casting a swirl of the lingering black fog. “I travelled the whole world searching for methods to kill that traitor…”

Daniel takes notice of that last statement, and he relaxes his aim. “Traitor?” asks Daniel. “Please explain.”

The dragon’s eye tilts towards Daniel. “I only learned of it recently from a far away Dawnseer able to peer into the past.” The dragon’s eye facing Daniel becomes profoundly sad. “I was a student of the Citadel. The beings who ruled it took me in when I had nothing, and they taught me the ways of magic far beyond conventional wisdom. I struggled to learn, but I loved my master like a father.” Now, the dragon’s expression twists into anger. “That traitor… he slayed our master, and he managed to kill many others by tricking them into storage magic and annihilating the storage unit. One by one until the one known as the Feral Feldrok came to be. Not even I could reason with the Feral child, and it repelled all dragons from the Citadel.”

The dragon’s gaze goes distant, and his voice softens once more. “Morthybargaron is the strongest of us, though. He is too powerful to be as impotent as he is with the largest dragon harem in the world. Our race is going extinct, and he cannot produce a single child.” The dragon looks at Daniel. “When I heard of the death of the Feral child,... I feared if nothing was done, we dragons would go with the feldroks into oblivion…”

Daniel fully relaxes now. The fog is still lingering, and it’s possible that it’s keeping Xyreko at bay, as she hasn’t returned. He hopes she wasn’t harmed by it. It’s a strange magic ability, and it could carry over.

“You’ve told me a lot, Great Dragon, apprentice of the feldroks. So, allow me to ease your burden. Morthybargaron the dragon lord is dead.”

The dragon is visibly surprised, using what little strength he can manage to move his head to fully look at Daniel.

Daniel smiles. “Since it seems we’re allies, he officially was annihilated a few hours ago. My companion took a storage bag that contained his head and annihilated it. I killed the former lord when he tried to claim the Citadel. After I killed the Feral Feldrok.” Daniel kneels down, saying softly, “And, I do regret that. But, my other companion, Hekate, needed the Feral Feldrok to be defeated. And, when he was floating between life and death, the spirits of what I believe to be his ancestors spoke to me.”

The dragon widens his eyes. “This… you heard… the voices of the feldroks?”

Daniel nods. “I have preserved his body in case there’s a way to help him, but he’s too powerful to revive right now. But, I just thought you’d prefer to know that Morthybargaron is also dead. Ironically enough, obliterated finally by storage magic.”

The dragon chuckles, finally cracking a smile. “I… find it hard to believe. And yet… I have hidden here for months, waiting for him to return to his treasure… What… What of the other dragons?”

“Of the greater dragons, all of the females are alive, and I have formed magic contracts with them to keep them under my control, but only so they can’t be violent or aggressive to others. All of the lesser dragons are alive with the same contracts.”

The dragon before Daniel relaxes profoundly. “Thank the gods… Please, human, I implore you, do protect…”

“Daniel!” The conversation is interrupted by a female voice crying out for him, and three figures swoop in together. Daniel limps up to a standing position, calling out, “Stay back! There’s a poison near us!”

The three women stop in a hover using their wings in their humanoid forms, and Geirahoel cries, “Daniel!? Wh-Wh-Wh-...!?”

“Are you alright, Mukori?” asks Ryuogriar. “Shall we finish him off?”

“Mukori?” asks the dragon softly.

Daniel answers his companions first. “No. We’re still talking. Turns out, we’re likely allies. Are the others safe?”

Ryuogriar nods. “Xyreko was able to evacuate everyone, including the villagers. I don’t understand what’s happening, though.” Her voice sounds like it’s wavering, and Geirahoel is wiping tears from her face. Reignleif seems like she’s holding together, but she’s studying everything.

Xyreko flies in close as well, and Daniel calls out, “Xyreko, don’t land. There’s a highly corrosive poison still present.”

She hovers next to the dragons, retorting, “Daniel… Do you think I didn’t find that out when I came to get you?”

He sighs. He figured that was the case. “Sorry. But, please hear us out. Our new acquaintance’s story might surprise you. And, your timing is perfect for corroborating it.”

***